


Making Up (For Lost Time)

by MachineryField



Series: Marching to the Beat (of Someone Else's Drum) [4]
Category: Xenoblade Chronicles
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Self-Indulgent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-19
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:08:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28179615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MachineryField/pseuds/MachineryField
Summary: “Egil… Egil…!” Small hands slap his chest and he groans, sitting up and watching Menyx tumble towards the ground.He catches them before they can, scrambling to make sure they don’t break something. He wonders what they were doing sitting on him and slapping him like that, anyway, though. He sets them in his lap and runs a hand through their hair.“Just what are you up to, little one?” He asks.Menyx kicks their legs in the air. “I wanted to spend time with you. I didn’t know you for the first… uh… seven hundred fifty years! We gotta make up for it now!”“Ah… I see.” He blinks and decides that makes enough sense. He didn’t even know they existed until very recently, when a literal miracle saved him from drowning in the endless sea, so there’s sure to be plenty to learn about Menyx. “I don’t know how long I have to play with you, but I suppose an hour or two couldn’t hurt.”Menyx looks up at him with a pout and a huff. “Vanea said you could play all day, though!”“Did she now…?”(Or: Egil and a sibling he never knew make up for lost time.)
Relationships: Egil & Original Character(s)
Series: Marching to the Beat (of Someone Else's Drum) [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2058093
Comments: 1
Kudos: 4





	Making Up (For Lost Time)

“Egil… Egil…!” Small hands slap his chest and he groans, sitting up and watching Menyx tumble towards the ground.

He catches them before they can, scrambling to make sure they don’t break something. He wonders what they were doing sitting on him and slapping him like that, anyway, though. He sets them in his lap and runs a hand through their hair.

“Just what are you up to, little one?” He asks.

Menyx kicks their legs in the air. “I wanted to spend time with you. I didn’t know you for the first… uh… seven hundred fifty years! We gotta make up for it now!”

“Ah… I see.” He blinks and decides that makes enough sense. He didn’t even know they existed until very recently, when a literal miracle saved him from drowning in the endless sea, so there’s sure to be plenty to learn about Menyx. “I don’t know how long I have to play with you, but I suppose an hour or two couldn’t hurt.”

Menyx looks up at him with a pout and a huff. “Vanea said you could play all day, though!”

“Did she now…?”

He makes a mental note to talk to her about that later, likely at night when Menyx has gone to bed. For now, though, he just gives them a smile as they nod wildly, cementing that Vanea did indeed say as much. He supposes all he’s doing to make up for what happened will have to wait.

He unplugs from his recharging station and places Menyx in their pod, moving to ready himself for the day. “Tell me then, Menyx. What do you want to talk about?”

“Uh, I… wanna tell you about myself!” They shift in their pod as Egil moves around the room. “Is that… okay?”

“Please, feel free to.” He gives them a small smile as he places his headpiece on top his hair. “I’d love to hear more about you.”

“Well, I was made by Papa when he felt the Machina needed hope… uh… he said he named me after Lady Meyneth!” Menyx starts and he can tell the child is already rambling. “The villagers all help take care of me, but I feel kinda bad about it, being so small. Papa says I’m smaller than most Machina children ‘cause he didn’t have much to make me out of. Uncle Ylv says I’m like a little potato…”

“A little potato, hm?” He chuckles and supposes that makes sense. They are quite rotund, even for a child made of less parts… “Ylvex must be fond of you if he calls you that.”

“He used to call me a burr.” Menyx nods. “But he watches me more than any other villager, so I think he likes me.”

Egil blinks a few times before snorting. “I see, how adorable…”

“What about you, Egil?” Menyx’s little voice sounds like a chirp. “Tell me more about you! The villagers talked about you, but I wanna know how you see yourself…”

Egil sighs, really not wanting to do so, but feeling he must. It’s the least he could do. “I… love our people, and loved our Lady Meyneth with all my heart. And I guess that love led me to doing very bad things, things people don’t forgive me for.”

That was fine, if not perfect, for him. He had hurt so many, and being just forgiven wouldn’t sit right with him. He’s done so much wrong, and he’s so much to do if he wants to start making up for it. It wouldn’t be right to see any forgiveness before then.

He guesses it was just Shulk and Fiora who threw a wrench in that. The two of them were too kind for their own good, if you ask him.

“Mmm…” He looks over at Menyx. “I guess that makes sense. People are mad at you and some are scared, but… I like you.”

Egil snorts. “I can’t say that’s a good idea, Menyx, but thank you.”

“I… it’s a good idea!” They huff. “You’re my brother, and you were really nice to me before you even knew, so… so…”

They’re sniffling now, and Egil’s chest aches a bit. They have a big heart, just like he does, and he feels sorry for them. A big heart is as much a curse as it can be a blessing, if you don’t know how to manage it. And clearly, someone so young can’t manage it, not yet. 

“Come on now, no tears…” He places a hand on their pod. “I don’t want you to cry.”

“Then take it back!” They continue to sniffle and their voice shakes. “Say it’s a good idea! Liking you isn’t a bad idea, Egil!”

Egil sighs. He still doesn’t agree, but he hates seeing them like this. He’s trying to make lives better after ruining so many, not make Menyx’s worse by making them second guess themself. He has so much lost time to make up for, he has no room for mistakes like this. He needs to fix this, and fast.

“Alright.” He says, opening the pod to pick them up. “If you really think it’s a good idea, who am I to argue?”

Menyx still sniffles, but they give him a little smile. Good, looks like he at least repaired this a little. “You mean it?”

“I do mean it.” He says, lying in order to keep the child happy. “Now how about you tell me more about you. You and Ylvex must be quite close if you call him Uncle Ylv!”

“Ah, yeah! I help him with his plants, sometimes!” They smile and begin patting his chest in excitement. “I’m really good at digging in the dirt so he can plant seeds! Oh and he lets me pick mushrooms sometimes! I’m good at that too! A-and…”

Egil listens and hums as they continue on. Good… it’s nice to see them enjoying themself once again. Despite it all, he enjoys knowing Menyx, getting to know someone who he very nearly never learned of.

He wonders if Menyx feels the same, and that’s why they attach to him so much. He guesses he doesn’t mind, if that’s the case. In fact, with time, he may even get used to it.


End file.
